


It Takes 784 Muscles to Hide A Body

by theskyisblue



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: And a little amused, Attempt at humour, Carlos is just extremely confused, It's not as dark as I made it seem I promise, M/M, Rated T for language, TK being a little chaotic, fun fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskyisblue/pseuds/theskyisblue
Summary: It takes 4 muscles to smile,16 muscles to frown,..784 muscles to hide a body,And 0 muscles to never speak of it again.Written for Lonestar Week Day 7 - Anything Goes
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 16
Kudos: 159





	It Takes 784 Muscles to Hide A Body

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](https://funnyjunk.com/Muscles/funny-pictures/5334518/) post, and I couldn't help myself 😂
> 
> I may or may not have taken 'Anything Goes' a little too literally, but I'll leave it to y'all to be the judge of that 😉

“What – in the _world,_ are you doing?”

TK froze, his shovel plunging mid-way into the dirt as he looked up sharply, wincing as a shadowy figure holding a flashlight shined the light right into his eyes. The figure must have noticed TK shrinking away because the flashlight quickly lowered. With no words of apology, he instead moved to shine the flashlight on the ground in front of them.

TK groaned when black dots swam in his gaze, blinking repetitively to try and adjust his eyes to the dark once more. His own flashlight had been smaller, far less powerful, and placed on the ground beside him. The glow of the receding sunlight was still present, but not enough to create enough lighting in the middle of a wooded clearing where TK had begun digging. 

There was no mistaking that voice. 

“What are you even _doing_ here?” TK winced; his eyes having adjusted to the faint illuminating rays around them well enough to see a very unimpressed single eyebrow lift. He recognized that look, because it was the same look the man standing in front of him gave to the crooks he caught when he called them out on their bullshit.

“That _is_ the question, isn’t it? One that _I_ should be asking, mind you, because if I didn’t know you any better, I would be calling in backup for a potential crime scene.” The figure said drily, eyes lowering to where a decently sized pit had been dug relatively deep in the ground.

The metallic part of the shovel that TK had been working with flashed its presence in the glimpses of light. There was a small mountain of already dug-up dirt right beside where TK was standing, and he was sure his face had to be smudged with debris and the gloves on his hands caked with soil.

“What does it look like I’m doing, Carlos? I accidentally killed a man and am currently getting rid of the evidence.” TK said without even so much as a blink, hand reaching for the shovel again to kick-start the process again. The hole should be deep enough, so why hadn’t it shown up yet?

“Oh, did you now?” Footsteps crunched against the dead leaves on the ground as the man walked closer, pausing to stand on the other side of the pit TK had dug to face him. “Then where’s the body?”

TK glanced up from his ministrations on the ground, eyes narrowing on the crossed arms that emphasized bulging biceps, a hip weighing slightly more than the other in a cocky stance. Placing the shovel beside him once more, TK leaned on the handle with one arm, a leg crossing over the other. He met the man’s gaze straight on, head tipping up in defiance.

“Did you know, that there are over 700 muscles in the human body? And it takes 784 of them to even attempt in hiding a body. No way am I going to waste them to drag an entire body out here, so obviously I chopped them into bite-sized pieces.” TK rolled his eyes, sending Carlos a ‘you get me?’ look as if they were discussing what they should have for dinner. Carlos didn’t even flinch.

“Did Mr. Carson get on your nerves again?” Carlos’ lips were twitching now, though his expression still completely stoic, and TK kind of hated police officers sometimes. 

Just sometimes.

He was quite fond of one of them all the other times.

“I swear, if he starts to call my very well maintained hair a wig _one more time_ – “ TK scowled, stopping his hands at the last second from running a hand through his hair in frustration, remembering that the gloves were still caked in dirt and other glorious findings that used to be a part of the forest floor.

“Did you have to resort to murder though? I quite liked his pecan pies.” Carlos mused, uncrossing his arms and opting to place his hands on his hips, relaxing his stance. It was true – Mr. Carson made some of the best pecan pies in the city, but his mouth needed a filtration device when it came to everyday conversation.

“That’s because he doesn’t call your curls an unfortunate by-product of hair rollers. Then you might understand the pain.” TK muttered, not being able to glare at the object of his frustrations at the moment, so he opted to glare at the manmade hole separating them instead. Carlos chuckled, ducking his head so that he could meet TK’s gaze.

“Alright spill, what are you _really_ doing here?” Carlos asked, his eyes now purely shining with curiosity, lips tipping into an endeared smile when TK pouted.

“You’ll laugh at me.” TK huffed, tearing his eyes away from Carlos’ unrelenting gaze, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the hand that was holding onto the handle of the shovel.

“Is the reason any worse than hiding a body? Because I really can’t think of anything worse if I’m being honest.” Carlos raised an eyebrow and was giving him _that look_ again, but TK only chewed nervously on his lower lip.

“TK, I think whatever it is that landed you here, in the middle of the woods digging a very impressive _hole_ at night grants an explanation.” Carlos’ tone had turned serious – border lining concern. TK turned his head to meet Carlos’ gaze once more, shoulders slumping in defeat at the ‘I can see right through you’ expression on his face.

_Fine_.

“A bone.” TK blurted, closing his eyes and cringing at the admission. When he opened his eyes to gauge Carlos’ reaction, he would have laughed at the dumbfounded expression he was currently donning if the situation had been in his favour.

“I’m sorry, come again?”

“I’m digging for a bone.”

“…”

“..?”

“I just – did you and Buttercup switch bodies without me knowing, or is this some sort of a feti – “

“Oh my _god_.” TK groaned, not even bothering with the filth on his gloves this time as he ran an exasperated hand down his face. “ _No_ , that’s gross, Carlos – no, I meant Buttercup was hiding one of his bones around here and forgot to dig it back up before we left. He was looking around the station for it, so I’m trying to find it.”

Carlos’ hand on his flashlight loosened, letting the object tumble to the ground, thankfully stopping before it fell into the pit in front of them.

Silence.

TK tightened his grip on the shovel’s handle, eyes darting over Carlos’ face to catch any sort of movement – a twitch of a muscle, a tip of the lips, a widening of the eyes.

Nothing.

The sun’s rays had almost completely settled down the horizon now, and pretty soon, the two men would be left with only their flashlights and each other to hopefully find their ways back to civilization.

If TK could somehow find a way to get Carlos to snap out of it first, that is.

“Are you telling me, that you’re out here on the brink of twilight, in the middle of _nowhere_ , because you’re trying to find a doggy bone?”

Carlos’ words seemed to catch in his throat, and TK couldn’t really pinpoint what exactly it was that made his voice shake but pushed it aside as probably confusion. The firefighter met the cop’s gaze head-on, and in a completely serious tone, replied,

“…Yes?”

And Carlos _lost it_.

“I hope you know that I really, _really_ hate you right now.” TK grumbled, glaring at the laughing figure of his boyfriend in front of him, bending down slightly to clutch at his stomach with whatever he found so hilarious about this situation.

Carlos’ bright laughter echoed in the clearing around them, probably scaring the birds that were also wondering what the fuck was up, but TK couldn’t find it in himself to even pretend to be mad.

His chest warmed in contrast to the cool tone of the evening - witnessing Carlos laughing as unabashedly as he was right now was a sight that will be forever ingrained in his memory.

“You – I just – TK, why didn’t you just bring Buttercup along? He has a sense of smell almost 40 times better than ours.” Carlos choked out, before going into another fit of laughter when TK’s eyes widened in realization.

Oh.

Damn, he hadn’t even _considered_ that. He had seen Buttercup looking absolutely _miserable_ at the station, whining pitifully for a toy he had lost, and TK hadn’t thought twice but to immediately come back here after shift.

The crew was going to have a _field day_ when they heard about this.

“I probably should have just gone with trying to find a time capsule, huh?” TK knew his cheeks had to be on _fire_ , and not the type that could be easily put out.

“Actually, the only time capsule located in Austin right now is the one below city hall. So, if you really had been digging that up before 2105, I honestly would have been even more concerned.” Carlos chuckled, ignoring his fallen flashlight on the ground between them.

The minimalized light surrounding them now cast a comforting glow in the shadow of darkness, the sun officially too tired of their game to stay any longer.

Suddenly, spots of blinking lights pictured before them, and TK shifted his gaze to follow, eyes shining in awe at whatever he was witnessing.

“Fireflies.”

TK turned to see that Carlos hadn’t even bothered to follow the blinking lights like TK had, instead, looking like there was nothing he would rather be looking at than the man standing in front of him.

“It’s actually rather rare to see them nowadays.” Carlos added softly, eyes trailing after the speckles of light, granting TK a moment to admire the stunning profile of a man who had not left his side since first coming into his life. The man who had somehow found him in the middle of the night even when he had a shift just hours before – tracked him to the middle of the woods and need no reason to _stay_ other than to offer his company.

_I love you_.

“Guess we’re pretty lucky then.” TK opted to say instead, heart thumping wildly in his chest both at Carlos’ quiet ‘I am,’ and the three words currently echoing in his mind – the warmth of the feeling leaving a prickle of electricity along his skin.

The tiny flickers of light danced closer towards him, and TK grinned when a couple of them even swarmed around him for a while.

“Seems like they can’t resist a pretty face.” Carlos teased, laughing lightly when TK scoffed, offering a fond smile at the sparkles of light blinking in a rhythm only they knew.

“How’d you know where to find me, by the way?” TK asked, tilting his head in a silent question. Carlos sent him a wink.

“I followed the blood trail.” Carlos deadpanned, before snickering at TK’s unimpressed stare. “Okay, fine. I may or may not have tracked your phone’s GPS.” Carlos admitted sheepishly, eyes lowering to the ground beneath them. TK would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little impressed.

“Aw, I’m honoured. You used your fancy police equipment to find me.” TK batted his lashes playfully, and if Carlos hadn’t still been standing one pit apart from him, he was sure that comment would earn him a chastising shove.

“I was worried, when you didn’t answer your phone.” Carlos confessed quietly, and TK’s expression immediately softened. He had left his phone on silent and shoved it in his pocket when he had started digging, the device’s vibrations probably getting lost in the movement.

Eyes locking with Carlos’ once more, TK could make out a hint of fragility, an almost uncertain look that he instantly wanted to erase.

“Thank you…for being here.” TK matched Carlos’ answering grin with one of his own, immersing himself in the moment. It was probably his imagination, but it almost seemed like the light from the fireflies brightened around them, casting an ethereal glow in their pocket of intimacy.

“Next time you want to hide a body, hit me up first, okay?” Carlos’ grin suddenly turned teasing, and TK groaned, laughing dejectedly.

“You are never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Absolutely not.”

Unbeknownst to the two men, the glowing flickers of light that had watched the entire exchange mustered all their strength to shine even brighter, giggling amongst themselves. Flying over their heads, they maneuvered themselves to create the shape of a heart, just as one of the men made his way over to the other, gathering him into his arms.

_“Let’s go home.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I am sorry for any misunderstandings that I may have caused. 
> 
> Come yell at me on [Tumblr](https://ao3theskyisblue.tumblr.com), I promise I will take it in stride 😂


End file.
